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SwitchIt! Maker 2 is providing Romanian pupils with accessible educational activities, thanks to the Comenius school development project.
The British Council funded scheme creates partnerships with schools in different countries, to increase understanding of different educational environments and cultures and provide professional development for teaching staff.
Kingfisher Community School of Chadderton, Oldham, took part in exchanges with schools in the Netherlands and Romania. All were special schools, and while the Dutch school was interested in educational systems, the Romanian school wanted to look more at teaching methods and at ICT in particular.
Project Coordinator at Kingfisher, Tricia Ayrton, said: "Although the Romanian pupils primarily have physical difficulties, the school did not have any appropriately simple software, and nothing that could be operated using switches. SwitchIt! Maker 2 made a huge impression on the visiting teachers – they will definitely keep using it after the end of the project!"
Inclusive shows SwitchIt! Maker 2 for the visiting teachers
SwitchIt! Maker 2 turns your own pictures and text into accessible cause and effect activities. So it is ideal for creating activities for pupils in other languages, and in this case, to provide learning opportunities that would not otherwise have been available.
As well as creating activities for pupils the school used the program as part of their final project report, to evidence what they had learned.
SwitchIt! Maker 2 was also put to good use at Kingfisher. The pupils put on a play called 'Finding the Sun', based on a Romanian legend. Alongside this they created a SwitchIt! Maker 2 activity using digital pictures of the children showing off lots of Romanian items. Using the program's export facility, they could also send a copy to show to the pupils in Romania.
In this way the Comenius project also led to increased understanding of different cultures among the school's pupils. One Kingfisher student even suggested a sponsored walk to raise funds – his 'Mile Challenge' helped the Romanian school purchase a camcorder. This will enable their students to further engage with technology – and they can use their digital film clips in SwitchIt! Maker 2!
With thanks to Tricia Ayrton of Kingfisher Community School.